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 Post subject: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:20 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:59 pm
Posts: 2
Hi
A am very upset at the moment as I fear a very good friend of mine is being scammed. For the last 2 years she has been talking to a man who is supposedly from Lancashire UK, but who has been doing work in Nigeria. Over the past 2 years he appears to have been the most unlucky man alive, being robbed of his passport, money, identity and all the usual crap I have been reading about over the last week, while researching more into these horrible scams. My friend finally came round to the idea last week that she has been scammed, after sending him money for a flight, only for him to get halfway and then get stopped for drugs in Amsterdam, which were "planted on him". Then sent back to Nigeria on the same day (Is this possible?). Then asking for money for a solicitor and another flight home. And yes my friend was stupid enough to send the money, and no he wasn't on the flight home she gave him money for. And she finally saw it for what it was, until she spoke to him again, and he got mad at her for not trusting him. Then had the cheek to ask for £500 to pay is hotel bill, as the hotel had his passport and won't give it back until he pays the bill, and of course a man with no money would go and stay in a 5 star £100 a night room rather than a cheap £5 a night b&b. Then as she asked him more questions, and asked for proof of his ID etc.. he got mad at her and said she didn't trust him etc, then threatened to sleep with another woman to get money, if she couldn't provide it.
I told my friend to call the British Embassie as they would be able to help him out, if he really is a British citizen etc.. But as of yet she won't do it. And I believe she spoke with him last night and this morning and he has somehow persuaded her to give him the money. As a friend I don't know what to do to make her see the truth. How long can this go on for, she is so desperate to believe his lies and she wants so badly for her fantasy that she has put her whole life into to come true, but sadly it's obvious to everyone around her that it won't. What can I do as a friend?

The man goes by the name David Benson ( I hear its very common in these scams) and like i said his from Lancashire, and has lost both his parents. He has a son over here, who was in hospital when he went to Nigeria, but now is staying with his grandmother, but she is a pensioner and can't send money to help him out. He has no friends he can trust as friends have taken money from him before etc... here is a picture of him, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Its the professional looking one that was apparently for his "work"
http://www.unyk.com/people-contact/unit ... ncashire/0

If anyone can help me I would be really grateful.
Thanks
p.s sorry if this is long and badly written.


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 Post subject: Re: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:28 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:54 pm
Posts: 10
Thanks for the picture - has your friend actually seen this guy or only talked to him on the phone? Irregardless, the other stuff is so typical and it really sounds like a romantic scam. My jerk had a grandma who couldn't send him money, a daughter who went off to China by herself and then got into an accident and ended up in the hospital, and then he goes there and walks around with 4500. in cash in his wallet which, tada! gets stolen. Like who does that????

Try to get your friend to understand as tough as it might be. How is your friend getting the money to him? Maybe you can get these people to explain to them what's going on.


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 Post subject: Re: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:37 am 
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Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:33 am
Posts: 123
No one was stopped for drugs in Amsterdam and if he was, he certainly would not be sent back, but he would be arrested.
Dutch drug policy isn't THAT liberal.

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 Post subject: Re: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:19 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:59 pm
Posts: 2
No she has never seen him, I think this is the only photo of him, I'm hoping that someone on the forum will also have seen the same scam and photo, so I can prove it to her. I know half of her believes its a scam, because this time last week she herself was saying it as well as trawling the net finding out more info on other scams, she herself saw that David Benson was a common name there etc... But a part of her can't face the reality that he isn't a real person, and somehow he has got to her. She won't listen to her friends even tho we are all telling her the facts, it's truly devastating for me to watch her ruin her life with this. Thank you Pennywise for the Amsterdam remark, It was my thoughts exactly.


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 Post subject: Re: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:14 am 
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Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:33 am
Posts: 123
Although the posession of a small amount of cannabis is tolerated in The Netherlands, smuggling isn't. No matter what amount he had on him, he would have been arreasted. Since he is a British citizen he would never have been send back to Nigeria. If the offense would be a reason to send him anywhere he would have been send to the UK.

Maybe this will help your friend a bit
http://www.thesite.org/travelandfreetim ... amdruglaws

I have seen the same scam numerous times. Photos or names do not mean much. They use photos of people that have nothing to do with it and they keep changing their name. At best, you can do a search for his email address and see if he has used it before.

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 Post subject: Re: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 6:18 pm 
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Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:39 pm
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Location: Third Rock from the Sun
I did a google search for "David Benson scammer" and had 309,000 hits. This is a very common name scammers use. Anytime someone tells you they have to go to Nigeria it is a scam.

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 Post subject: Re: How to help a friend???
PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 6:18 pm 
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Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:33 am
Posts: 123
Janez wrote:
This is a very common name scammers use.


It's also a very common name people have and if you search for three words, not every result has those three words.

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